Moving...Again.

We were so excited to move into our new house and finally be in one spot for a long time.  We closed on our house March 18th but we had to move out of our apartment on March 14th.  So it was a little tricky.  We decided to rent a storage unit for a month and move our apartment goods there.  Then we lived in a hotel for five days with just suitcases.  

Here's our little storage unit.  Nels drove back and forth from the apartment to the storage unit.  I packed everything.  He was the loader; I was the packer.  We made a good team.  And it was exhausting!  

Here's our apartment.  We were on the first floor.  All of the windows you see on the first floor were ours.  It really was a nice apartment and worked well for our time there.

We cleaned it up and put all the furniture the way they had it when we moved in.  

While the kids were at school, Nels and I finished moving our family out of the apartment and into the hotel.  

I picked the kids up from school and got them settled.  Then I took Sofie, Kira and Noah to eat at Chili's.  Nels and Isak grabbed a quick dinner and went to soccer practice. 

The kids liked Chili's.  

Panda spotted in hotel!  :)

We had a two bedroom suite, but Sofie, Kira and Noah all wanted to sleep on the pull out couch in the living room.  Cuties.  So Isak had a queen bedroom all to himself.  

We enjoyed the free breakfast every morning.  Then off to school...

One night we got Papa Murphy's pizza and baked it in the hotel room oven.  Another night we went to Red Robin.  And we also ate at Panda Express (Sofie was so happy.  She still has the paper cup from there) and McAlister's Deli.  It was fun to just eat out and not cook.  :)

On St. Patrick's Day, I bought the kids green frosted sugar cookies to enjoy after school.

Just a little flashback:  March 2016...age 3

And March 2013 - 4 months old.  Love these pictures.

This sign was in the laundry room at the hotel.  I liked it... A little about Murfreesboro.

And then March 18th came and Nels and I signed paperwork at 12pm.  Oh, sadly I was so sick.  Terrible cough.  While we were signing papers, I had a coughing attack and had to rush to the bathroom to cough and cough.  So embarrassing.  But we got it done!

We got the keys and started the process of moving in!  Just a few pics of the house...

The front was sodded but the back wasn't.  We bought sod for the back and had it done a couple of days after we moved in.  So glad we did.  Otherwise it would have been dirt and mud for a long time.

March 19th - the movers came with all of our stuff!

I packed the hotel and took care of the kids while Nels took care of the move at the house.  Then we met up around 10:30.  The movers were done by 12 pm.  The internet guy took forever to install the internet.  I took Isak to soccer.  This was the day we got Crumbl cookies.  We checked out of the hotel.  We ate dinner in our new houses with lots of boxes.  

It was pretty overwhelming to see all of the boxes and all of the work that needed to be done.  I started in the kitchen and worked my way across the house and then upstairs.  Usually, I was able to get one room/area done a day.  But I took some time to make a balloon animal for Noah and be with the kids when they needed me.

Our new fridge came on March 21.  Here's a before pic...but I don't have an after.  Haha.

We also got a new washing machine.  Thankfully, our old dryer still works.

My mom and dad were SO sweet.  They sent us flowers and fruit from edibles.  It was delicious and the flowers lasted a long time and just helped me feel loved during this time.  So thoughtful of them!

Chocolate covered strawberry!  Yum!

Here's the flowers.

My mom sent me a card too.  Loved it.

Fun with boxes.  The kids loved finding all of their stuff in the boxes!

Costco trip to stock up on all of the food.  I love having a chest freezer we can fill up with food.

I treated the kids to pizza and ice cream.

Here's a pic of the kitchen without boxes!

Nels's mom gave me the containers for flour, sugar, etc.  It was fun to put in my new cupboards.

I got boxes unpacked in the family room so we could see the fireplace now.  I love it.

Little by little our house is coming together.  I'm not good at decorating.  But hopefully I will try this time.  😀  And that's it.  Our stuff from the storage unit is unpacked too.  So we are all in one place now.  It's so nice not to have the move hanging over our heads.  Now we can just continue to get settled.  

Lunch Dates in March

Nels and I got to go on a couple of lunch dates this month.

We tried the Sandwich Factory.

It comes with cheese sauce and yummy fries!  Delicious burger too.  

I loved the stain glass windows, painted brick and old blue doors.

Another time we tried a Mexican place near our house called Los Burrios.  It was yummy.

I also tried So-Cali for lunch by myself.  It was really good.  

Steak and potato burrito.

The best place for a burger so far...Bad Daddy Burger Bar.  Wow!  It was so good!  Shake too...

I got the Bistro Burger with sweet potato fries.  AMAZING!

I tried to replicate it at home.  I bought a bag of frozen sweet potatoes from Walmart and cooked them in the air fryer.  I found a paprika dipping sauce online.  Delicious.  We enjoyed our splurges and time together.  💚

Outdoor in March

Isak started soccer the first week of March!  His first time doing a team sport.  He was pretty excited.  We didn't have a jersey yet for the first game.  So he wore a white t-shirt and black shorts.  

The whole crew came to "watch."  Sofie and Noah were a little wild.  Kira drew and drew.  

We splurged and got Kona Ice for the kids.  We even bought the cups that change colors.  They are refillable, so we can reuse the cups for cheaper refills next time.  It was a fun way to end the soccer game.

One day we explored a new park...

McKnight Park.  Lots of fun things for the kids to try out.

This spinning cage was a favorite.

Zip line!

We also walked on the greenway for a few minutes.  The kids have always loved standing on these sewer covers.  

Right after this picture, Noah fell off the bench and got hurt.  I took him back to the car and put bandaids on him.  Then we went back to find the rest of the group.  The other three kids got to find little seashells along the river while they waited for me and Noah.  Overall, a fun outing.  

Nels took Isak to a soccer game.  Isak scored his first goal!!  He was pretty happy.  Kona Ice for him after the game!

Ta da!  :)

It's hard to get good pics/videos of them playing...I sure enjoy watching the games though.

After another game.  I took Isak to Crumbl Cookies.  Our first time there.  This was also moving day for us.  So it was a treat for moving into the house too.

We got chocolate peanut butter, chocolate chip, lucky charm and mint brownie.  They were amazing!

Remember Gladys park from last month...while we were there Noah buried a stick for himself to find the next time we returned.  He was so anxious about his stick.  Finally, I took him to the park and guess what?  He found his stick.  Haha!

It was a nice day.  I'm glad Noah keeps me on my toes.  :)

School in March

Jumping into March.  Here's some school photos and updates.

Sofie was thrilled when her class had a pajama day.  She wore her panda pajamas!

Waiting for the bus.

Noah stayed home this day...

Sofie's teacher sent me a picture of her.  💜

Kira and Isak read for 20 minutes and write about what they read every day after school for homework.  Kira loves to make hers special...prettiest homework I ever saw!

Sofie and Noah enjoyed a Dr. Seuss week.  One day they tried green eggs and ham.  Noah didn't like it... haha.

Same with Sofie.

They read Dr. Seuss books and had themed snacks like red gummy fish in jello.  The last day they were Things...:)

Isn't that so fun?!

I thought I would try it on too.  Haha!

Here's Thing 19 and Thing 20.

They also made Dr. Seuss bookmarks.  Noah won for his class.  I think Sofie helped him draw it.  He did a "Put Me in the Zoo" bookmark.  

The kids learned about bee pollination for their STEAM project.  

We went to the STEAM walk for the city schools and saw Mrs. Tidwell there presenting the kindergarten class project.  So the kids got a picture with her.  She's been a great teacher for them.

Isak and Kira did a set design STEAM project.  Isak was the team leader for his group.  A little stressful, but he did a great job.  They had to write a short skit, design a set for it that had at least one moving part, like a pulley and one magnet or light element to it.  They used copper wire, batteries and lights.  Pretty cool.  I love seeing their creativity.  

Isak and Kira also learned the 50 states shapes.  Sofie and Noah continue to learn to read and they also learned to count by 5's and 2's.  

I love watching them learn and grow!